Above the mage

Chapter 408 Secondary Dimension

Tucao returns to Tucao.

Three bugle calls have sounded, and Gaode has entered the city.

Putting everything else aside, his very identity as a Sea Sentinel Mage meant he was destined to be involved.

Otherwise, not to mention the subsequent accountability, he would definitely not be able to stay in the sea sentry service afterward.

The Sea Sentinels are all elite mages; a deserter would be looked down upon.

"Let's go together," the guard mage said solemnly.

"Okay, let's go together." Gao De nodded.

The City Hall Square is located in the heart of Auckland and can be reached directly via the River Teva.

The guardian mage pulled Gao De onto a patrol boat used only on inland waterways.

This is a typical rowing sailboat with a relatively long and narrow hull, which allows it to maneuver nimbly even in the narrower sections of the Tawar River. Its power comes mainly from the sail and oars.

The bow and stern are relatively pointed, and it travels faster on inland waterways than Gaode's boat service.

The rallying call was issued from the clock tower located in the center of the city square.

When Gao De and the guardian mage arrived, the huge municipal square was already packed with people.

A quick glance reveals that the number of people is definitely over ten thousand.

This is the foundation of the Golden Flower Dynasty; the number of formal mages in a single city can reach tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

However, although it was impossible to clearly see the mage level of each person, Gao De used his Mandora's Eye to scan them and, through the slight energy flow, could basically confirm that more than two-thirds of these people were first-ring mages.

The rain was still falling, and the bluestone slabs of the square were covered with water, but there was no debris, so it had obviously been cleaned up.

At the very front of the City Hall is Auckland City Hall.

The white brick and stone city hall exuded a cold aura in the overcast sky, with the golden pheasant emblem at the top gleaming brightly; it was made of pure gold.

Even after being attacked by catfish, the city hall remained unscathed, without any signs of damage.

Count Roland, wearing a black rainproof cloak with silver trim, stood on the steps in front of the town hall.

Standing behind him were all prominent nobles and mages from Auckland.

Gao De and the Guardian Mage were among the last to arrive.

After all, they came from the city gate furthest from the city center.

So, only about two minutes after they arrived, Count Roland spoke.

"They should all be here."

"All mages of the second rank and above, please step forward." With the aid of magic, Count Roland's voice, though not loud, clearly reached the ears of every mage present.

As a result, a few monks in the crowd began to move forward and gathered at the very front.

Both Gao De and the Guardian Mage remained motionless.

However, he did notice that among the mages pushing forward from the crowd, there was another mage who was also wearing a sea sentinel uniform.

Of course, the other party was wearing a warrant officer's uniform.

"I am very pleased to see that everyone responded to the call to action of the monks and came to gather in such a short time."

Count Roland's gaze swept over the second-ring and higher-ranking mages at the front, then shifted to the first-ring mages who stood at the back, where there were the most of them. He spoke slowly in an extremely calm yet heavy tone.

"However, I have some bad news for you."

He paused, seemingly giving everyone time to mentally prepare themselves.

After pausing for about three seconds, Earl Roland continued, "The appearance and expansion of the catfish are too abnormal, and the three subsequent small whirlwinds are unprecedented. Therefore, I asked our Auckland chief mage, Theodore, to go out to sea to investigate the situation."

After saying this, he turned slightly to the side, and an old man with silver hair stepped forward. He was wearing a dark purple robe, had a hooked nose, and held an obsidian staff in his right hand. He looked extremely extraordinary.

He is Theodore, the chief mage of Auckland.

In a city like Auckland, the chief mage must be at least a senior fourth-ring mage.

"I was ordered by the Earl to go out to sea to investigate the situation and came to the place where the catfish whirlwind originated."

"There, I saw a spatial rift that was constantly expanding." Theodore paused as raindrops dripped from the eaves of the city hall, but before they could touch his body, they were blocked by a transparent membrane.

"The other end of the spatial rift connects to an alternate dimension filled with wind elements."

"Strong wind elements and gales are gushing out from this spatial rift."

"In other words, the appearance of the catfish this time is not a natural phenomenon, but is entirely due to this spatial rift, a disaster from another dimension."

The city square fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of rain pattering on various clothes and even ritual implements.

After reporting the situation, Theodore quietly withdrew, handing the "stage" back to Earl Roland.

"Everyone should be well aware of the dangers of extradimensional disasters. For example, the appearance of ley lines can often cause a prosperous city to collapse overnight."

"The ley lines are spatial rifts that connect the ley line plane to our mage plane, and this spatial rift that connects our mage plane to the wind elemental plane will be temporarily called the wind rift."

"The bad news is that this wind corridor is only 180 kilometers away from our city of Auckland."

When the words reached 180 kilometers, Count Roland's expression became very solemn, and his tone carried a hint of a sigh.

"One hundred and eighty kilometers!"

"Oh My God"

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the many mages in the city square changed, and they couldn't help but start talking about it.

There's no other reason than that the distance is simply too close.

"A distance of 180 kilometers, plus the fact that this is a wind elemental alternate dimension, once this wind network is completely stabilized..."

Putting everything else aside, catfish-sized cyclones will become commonplace in Auckland, possibly occurring once or twice a month.

Upon hearing this, Gaode realized the seriousness of the situation.

If catfish come once or twice a month, Auckland will become a ghost town in less than a year.

However, the term "wind elemental alternate dimension" still gave him some doubts.

Before this, he had only heard of the ley line plane. Of course, since there is a ley line plane, there must also be other alternate planes, which is reasonable.

However, Gaode had never heard of any other dimension outside of the Earth Vein plane before.

It seems that the ley lines are of a higher level, which is why they have many intersections with the mage plane. The ley lines are spread throughout the entire world.

He began to suspect something.

What Count Roland said next confirmed his conjecture.

"The good news is that this is just a secondary plane composed of pure elemental energy, rather than a stable material plane like the ley line plane."

"The size of the sub-plane is finite, and its energy is measurable. As long as we can disperse the elemental creatures in the sub-plane during the early stages of the wind network's expansion and before it takes shape, we can cause the sub-plane's energy to be consumed to an extreme degree."

"If the secondary plane falls into a state of energy deficiency, our mage plane, as the primary plane, possesses a powerful self-healing ability that will automatically repair the spatial rifts that are not yet fully formed, thereby causing this wind network to dissipate."

"The reason I issued this call to arms to gather everyone is to send us out to sea to exterminate the elemental creatures in this secondary plane."

"Theodore has already made a preliminary confirmation that, given the energy concentration of this secondary plane, the strongest elemental creatures are only at the fifth rank, with the majority being first to third rank elemental creatures."

"Once the fifth-tier elemental creatures appear, we will handle them. You don't need to worry about them. You only need to help eliminate these first to third-tier elemental creatures."

First to third-order elemental creatures.

Upon hearing that it was this level and this task, the tense atmosphere among the monks immediately eased, and they all felt a great sense of relief.

Since they have appeared here, whether they are truly willing or forced by the powerful effect of the Mage's Call to Arms, as Auckland Mages, they certainly do not want Auckland to be destroyed by the Wind Network, and more or less they all have some intention to protect Auckland.

However, if the task is too difficult, this thought will soon be driven away by fear and timidity.

No matter how many fifth-tier elemental beings there are, it's useless.

The higher the level, the greater the gap; this is an eternal truth.

An exceptionally gifted elementary school student may possess knowledge comparable to that of some junior high school students, but a PhD will certainly be far superior to a graduate student.

However, no matter what, this mission is still extremely dangerous.

After all, if a fight breaks out, it will be at sea, where the situation is chaotic and there are no rules to follow.

It's quite possible for a third-tier elemental creature to approach a first-tier mage. Although one's own mage would certainly rush to the rescue immediately, the risk is always extremely high.

However, given the prevailing circumstances, even fear cannot prevent the fight.

"It only takes a few days for a spatial rift to go from appearing to taking shape."

"Therefore, we don't have much time left."

"The ship is ready for sailing. Everyone, let's set sail immediately for Fengluo!" After briefly explaining the situation, Earl Roland gave his final order.

Count Roland and Mage Theodore had already made the specific arrangements and plans.

These mages, summoned by the rallying cry, mainly act as "NPCs," pawns who simply follow orders.

Gao De knew exactly what was going on and obediently followed their instructions.

Ultimately, I'm just a first-level mage. In this kind of "grand storyline," being able to play as a pawn on the chessboard is already quite an achievement. How could I possibly have my own will?

Unless he is the protagonist

To be honest, Gaode doesn't like participating in wars, especially as a lowly soldier.

Danger is secondary; more importantly, in war, unless one is a top-tier mage like Theodore, an individual's strength is far too insignificant.

Let alone a first-ring mage, even if he were a third-ring mage now, he would probably be an insignificant character in this Fengluo "grand storyline".

In such a war, it makes no difference whether you have one more or one less. Victory will not be because of him, nor will defeat be because of him.

Whether he wins or loses, he could die in the war.

This feeling is not good.

But since he had no other choice, Gaode quickly put aside his rejection and focused his attention on the upcoming war.

At a command, a group of mages, led by Earl Roland and Theodore, surged from the City Hall Square toward Auckland Harbour like a tidal wave.

On the dock, dozens of warships stood side by side, forming a continuous line.

These were all official warships, constructed primarily of sturdy oak and teak, with massive hulls that gleamed with an oily sheen in the downpour.

All the warships were multi-deck designs, with the largest even having three decks.

Dozens of flags embroidered with the broom emblem fluttered in the wind.

Unlike ordinary passenger ships and freight cars, these warships, in addition to dozens of sails, are equipped with alchemical machines that provide additional magical power.

In addition, turrets equipped with alchemical cannons are located on both sides of the hull, distributed on the decks of each level, providing additional fire support.

The lead warship, the "Crown of Thorns," was entirely made of metal and equipped with the classic weapon that Gaode had frequently seen in Western fantasy novels: the Magic Crystal Cannon, which is usually only set up in cities.

Compared to artillery, the barrel of the magic crystal cannon is made of a whitish mithril, and its surface is engraved with runes.

These runes meandered across the metal surface as if they were alive, and the cannon barrel was over six meters long with thick walls.

The breech section is the core of the magic crystal cannon, employing a design that combines rune arrays with alchemy machines. In the center is a huge diamond-shaped magic crystal slot used to hold the energy source.

Under the command and coordination of the official mages, the summoned non-official mages were orderly divided and boarded different warships in succession.

Upon arriving here, Gao De parted ways with the guardian mage who had led him there.

Because the official mage in charge of guiding boarding, after seeing Gao De's sea sentinel uniform and confirming his identity, arranged for him to board another warship that was clearly of a higher class, and whispered to him, "This is a warship reserved for noble mages."

Gao De immediately understood.

This is considered special treatment.

Under the call to arms of mages, every mage must respond to the call and go to sea, and noble mages are no exception; in this respect, they have no special privileges.

However, when arranging warships, it is possible to assign them warships with more complete equipment and stronger protection, thereby increasing their survival rate.

In any circle, there are some unique, unwritten rules that everyone tacitly agrees to and follows.

However, in this respect, at least the Plantagenet dynasty was a good one.

Because in the tradition of the Plantagenet dynasty, nobles were expected to take the lead in war.

If this were the Duchy of Sien where Gaode previously lived, the scenario would most likely be that noble mages stayed in the rear to command while they fought desperately on the front lines.

Time was of the essence, so the monks moved quickly and swiftly, darting across the deck like ants.

Soon, the blue flag was raised on the Crown of Thorns.

This is the departure signal flag.

Immediately following, the other warships sounded their horns three times in succession, the echoing horns creating ripples in the rain.

They indicate that they are ready and waiting to depart.

The next moment, the Thorn Crown took the lead and sailed away from the port.

As Gao De watched the massive figure of the Thorn Crown break through the rain, he felt certain.

There are many reasons why the Plantagenet Dynasty was able to become the oldest human dynasty in this plane, one of which is the tradition that nobles must lead from the front.

The remaining warships, like a well-trained flock of geese, spread out in a fan shape with the Thorn Crown as the arrowhead.

From a high altitude, the fleet resembles a sharp blade piercing through the rain.

The broom flowers on the canvas appeared and disappeared in the wind and rain.

(End of this chapter)